Make a solar cell from a condom with this video tutorial. Solar energy is plentiful and better for the environment, so why not take an easily accessible commodity (like a condom), and use it to harvest the power of the sun. To replicate this hack at home, you'll need the follo ...more
Discover the power of raspberries! Literally. In this NurdRage science video, learn how some crushed raspberries and some titanium dioxide (TiO2) can create a powered dye-sensitized solar cell. Inside a raspberry is something called anthocyanin, which is a flavonoid pigment. C ...more
Sputnik, Apollo and the Space Race. If you watched the State of the Union address last night, you probably heard President Barack Obama mention those three things. The Space Race was an informal bout between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (USA) over the ascenda ...more
The Solar Schoolhouse presents this video tutorial on how to use the Solar Cell Classroom Set. The purpose of this set is to give students hands on experience making electricity using sunlight. See what's inside the set, and then see how to wire three different types of electr ...more
What's the first thing you would do once you realized you were lost in, say, a desert? If you're like me, you would immediately pull out your cell phone and start dialing every number. But what if you have no service? What if your battery is dead? If you make this survival so ...more
If you want to save money on your electric bill, try building some of these solar panels using solar cells wired in a series. You can save money by using extra glass you or a friend may already own if it isn't being used. Soon you can harness the power of the sun by creating y ...more
Secretly shoot your voice across the room in stealth mode on a laser beam in this fun and easy project! Make Magazine and Kipkay present this cool spy trick. Build a simple laser communicator that transmits your voice across a room. You need an amplifier, radio, laser pointer, ...more
This is a tutorial for how to use a multimeter to take volt and amp measurements of a silicon solar cell and solar modules.
Power the clocks at your home with the sun! With a solar cell that costs around $5, you can convert a clock to solar power and avoid buying batteries or running up the electric bill. Instead, connect a rechargable battery to the solar panel with a few wires and some adhesive a ...more
Check out this science video to see how to make a solar-powered miniature car. To make this solar-powered mini car, you'll need some balsa wood, a small motor, two steel rods, four wheels, four washers, a straw of any color, two gears, a solar cell, hot glue gun, a tape measur ...more
Combine your iPod and a laser to send your music on the beam. Easy project that anyone can do, with the help of a little soldering. You will need your iPod, a solar cell, a laser, and a soldering tool. Watch this video circuitry tutorial and learn how to hook up an iPod to a l ...more
An emergency battery charger for your mobile phone comes in handy, but it's not the ultimate solution; once it's dead it's useless (what a waste). If you want to really get off the metaphorical grid, you can follow the steps in this video to construct a more robust circuit tha ...more
It's hot this summer, but it's not that easy to cool down when you're on the go. You can't take an air conditioner with you, and a handheld fan will just tire you out, so you'll need to find more creative ways to cool down when you're on the go. One of these ways is a DIY sola ...more
Omniscience is not required to make some really cool shit happen. Yes, it took a while, but we can make fuel from the Sun! Solar panels are basically our answer to God. And now that we can make solar electricity, finding the most efficient way to harvest it is tricky. Some so ...more
Samimy is at it again. And this time, his ingenuity has tackled a clever way to take something old and broken and restore it to something new and useful. What are we talking about? Modding a broken hard drive and some busted cell phones into a useful rechargeable USB / solar-p ...more
If you're tired of replacing the batteries on your remote control and you would rather have the TV remote charge by itself, grab a few solar cells, rechargable batteries, and a few extra odds and ends. With this mod to your remote, you can let light charge your remote and neve ...more
Charge your cell phone, mp3 player or other USB-equipped device with the power of the Sun! All you need is a 6-volt solar panel and a female USB cable. Solder them together (this video demonstrates how), and then you have a solar powered USB charger!
Check out this Greener Business Show video tutorial on how to make a portable solar powered USB charger with an LED flashlight inside an Altoids tin can. You will see in this episode how to modify a solar path light into the Altoids tin so that you can have a nifty LED flashli ...more
I am writing this quick post in response to the recent earthquakes and tsunamis that are affecting Japan. As soon as the news broke, and we began to hear of tsunami warning for our area, I immediately realized how under prepared I was for a natural disaster. The thing that dro ...more
In this video, we learn how to make your own solar panel.The amorphous solar glass is the cheapest but it's also the least efficient. You can do anything you want with these and they are durable. The hexagon cells are the most efficient and most expensive as well. The poly cry ...more
In this video you'll visit one of the largest solar power farms in the world to learn the difference between reflection and refraction. Unlike most solar farms, this farm uses giant mirrors instead of photo electric cells. Check it out.
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills. Submit your best shot to our weekly competition for a chance to win an awes ...more
Sometimes it's more than just inconvenient when your electronics lose power. Sometimes, losing power could be dangerous. Never worry about a dead cell phone again! Charge your portable electronics by harnessing the power of the sun. You Will Need *Solar-powered garden lights ...more
LIFE magazine has posted a gallery of bizarrely wonderful old school scientific models. Don't miss the giant fetus or massive colon (double ew). Behold, science education before computers ruled our world. A girl scout leans in to take a closer look at an enclosed model of the ...more
This is a walkthrough of the hunt for our solar system and home planet Earth. The searching is fast forwarded. Saw a picture on the net of a vague location of where it might be. This is an Easter egg in Spore. How will you create the universe? With Spore you can nurture your ...more
Mobile devices can do just about anything these days, thanks to third-party developers. iPhones and Android devices have been known to do some pretty wild things. Need a dupe key made? Scan and order one with your iPhone. Want to know if you're hotter than Justin Bieber? Compa ...more
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills. Submit your best shot to our weekly competition for a chance to win an awes ...more
As discussed earlier, there are many ways to view the upcoming solar eclipse, whether it be with actual eclipse glasses, welder's lenses, eclipse-approved filters, or a solar telescope. If you can't get your hands on any of those, the safest way to view the solar eclipse this ...more
Science-fiction writer Jules Verne predicted many scientific breakthroughs, including the moon landing, tasers, and nuclear submarines. In his 1874 book The Mysterious Island, Verne writes: I believe that water will one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which ...more
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills. Submit your best shot to our weekly competition for a chance to win an awes ...more
It turns out that the popularity of soft circuit electronics has leaked out of the interwebs and into the hands of the U.S. military. Soft circuit electronics allow you to literally sew electronics circuits into fabric using flexible conductive thread instead of wire. Soft cir ...more
I have an absolutely wonderful time making projects and writing articles for all of you mad scientists! Today, I will bring you behind the scenes for a look at the workbench, tools, and software that make the Mad Science World possible. Above is my beautiful workbench! My who ...more
WonderHowTo is a how-to website made up of niche communities called Worlds, with topics ranging from Minecraft to science experiments to Scrabble and everything in-between. Check in every Wednesday evening for a roundup of user-run activities and how-to projects from the commu ...more
Plants all around us capture sunlight every day and convert it to energy, making them a model of solar energy production. And while the energy they make may serve the needs of a plant, the process isn't efficient enough to generate power on a larger scale. So, scientists from ...more
There's nothing worse than when you come up with a brilliant idea while you're busy with other things and then promptly forget it. Whether it's the perfect ending for your novel or a comeback you should've said during that argument with your roommate last week, it's always ann ...more
You can do a lot more with playing cards than you'd think, like turn them into gift boxes, fling them like throwing stars, and make them levitate or disappear. You can even make them recharge your batteries. Instructables user Shawn Frayne was sick of having a bunch of dead ba ...more
When the power goes out, having the ability to contact others becomes extremely important, and your cell phone can be one of the most important tools to have. But if the power is out for an extended period of time, battery life becomes a constant problem. Without the ability ...more
On Thursday, Mojo Vision, a startup comprised of former engineers from Apple, Amazon, Google, and other Silicon Valley mainstays, emerged from stealth backed by $50 million in funding for a hands-free augmented reality platform that runs without smartphones, tablets, or other ...more
Forget the rise of the machines. Tardigrades are set to outlive everything — even the bots. When the last echo of a whisper in a cell phone has long dissipated into space, the water bears will still be hanging out. In Hollywood, there is a never-ending march of movies set in ...more
Silence spreads over these mountains like nothing I've ever felt. If I didn't have Moby blasting in my earphones, there'd probably be no other sounds around. Well, except for someone, Phil probably, murmuring in a nearby tent just low enough to make his words indiscernible. W ...more
The landscape of the augmented reality space is broad, diverse, and constantly shifting, perhaps more so than any other vertical in technology. At the same time, major players are attempting to standardize various hardware designs and delivery methods, while still others are r ...more
The holiday season is here! Whether you're gift shopping for the iPhone owners in your life or just trying to save some money on your own purchases, Black Friday can deal out the discounts. This year, you'll find great prices on iPhone accessories of all kinds — all Thanksgivi ...more